Online dating is a super-fun way to meet partners. But if you don't have a strategy or you're not being clear about your intentions, it can be a very frustrating experience. Sebastian Jakovljevic is a dating coach and dating expert who helps singles find better dates and relationships through dating advice from his blog at sebastianjakovljevic.com . He also produces several multimedia dating content that he shares on YouTube, including #DateChallenge videos, dating tips & tricks as well as sharing dating experiences. In this interview with DatingAdvice.com, Jakovljevic talks online dating success stories, how to create the perfect profile and why understanding what you want is key to dating on the internet. DatingAdvice.com: What do you think is the biggest mistake guys make when it comes to dating on a dating site? Jakovljevic: I see a lot of guys that apply dating rules that work offline but don't work online. Here are some examples: a) Sending Long, Generic Messages – In real life, this might be OK because if one of your messages gets through to a woman she doesn't have ten more messages from ten other men also waiting for her attention. In contrast, women's dating inboxes can get flooded with more than 100 first-contact emails per day – and they need to find a way to sort out those first contacts quickly. If you send a generic message to her, she will feel like it is spam and move on. Instead, think about what information she's giving in her dating profile that you could comment on. Then create an online dating first contact message specifically for her - don't copy & paste even if the dating profiles are very similar. b) Uploading Anonymity-Inducing Photos or Videos – If you upload any photos or videos showing your face from the neck down, nobody can see who you're trying to hook up with before they click on your dating profile. Why not show yourself? It doesn't have to be a supermodel picture either - just make sure that people know what you look like so they can at least imagine meeting you. c) Uploading the Wrong Photos – Photos of you partying, with friends or doing fun activities can be very misleading for any dating site users who are looking at your profile because it doesn't tell them what kind of dating partner you would be. If dating is about impressing each other and making an effort to show yourself in the best light possible, then upload photos of yourself doing something that makes you look good! It could be travel photos, photo-shoots, modeling shots or just ones that were taken by a professional photographer - anything that makes YOU look good will work fine. Remember: You're advertising primarily to women when dating online so pick pictures that make you look like a guy any girl would want to date if she got the chance! d) No Clear Intent – It's good to be curious about dating online, but if you're just curious about "what's out there" then I would advise against dating until you've done some research into what dating is all about and how dating websites work. The reason behind this advice is that dating sites are very competitive and if your profile doesn't show a clear intent of who you want to attract (i.e: the type of girls you like) or what kind of relationship you're looking for (casual dating, long-term relationship etc.) then it won't be visible enough for those women who fit your criteria. They need to know within 5 seconds of browsing your profile if they might meet with your approval, otherwise they'll find someone else who's dating profile screams 'approval' to them. e) No Photo, Bad Photo – If you can't be bothered to take a dating picture or don't have the possibility of uploading your photo, then this tells women that you don't take dating seriously and are probably not worth her time. All dating sites are competitive places for good looking girls so if she sees that other guys on dating sites also have photos up she will instantly think you're out of her league when in fact it is just that your profile doesn't show any interest in hooking up with her! f) Applying Generic Dating Advice - As I mentioned above dating profiles should say something about what kind of person you are, what dating style you like (casual dating, long-term relationship etc.) and what kind of women you're looking for (age, location, interests) to create that dating connection. Most guys write something vague about themselves or simply upload photos of themselves without adding much detail to their dating profiles. This usually means that women can't picture dating the guy in the profile because they don't know enough about him. On top of this most men forget to ask women out online as well as neglect their messages with things like 'hey' or `sup`. g) Neglecting Messaging – A website is a tool which you can use to meet people but it's not a magic wand that does all your work for you! In the end dating websites are dating over the internet which means that you have to be an active participant in dating and not just a silent observer. If you don't message women after they're interested in dating you then chances are they'll never spend time dating someone who doesn't make any move to start dating! h) Being Negative – When you're writing about yourself, dating advice suggests putting a positive spin on how things work out for you rather than trying to portray yourself as a victim of unfortunate cir[removed]stances. So if your friends always dump their girlfriends when they get serious, try wording it like "Even though my last few relationships didn't work out, I'm still searching for love." That way women know that it wasn't because YOU weren't committed enough to sustaining them; it was because of cir[removed]stances that were out of your control! i) No Hook - The dating advice rule for writing dating profiles is to make sure you end each profile with an interesting hook like "I love the color green, especially Kelly green!" to get women interested in dating YOU. If your dating profile has no hook or conclusion then women will think that there is nothing dating related about you and leave! j) No Photos, Bad Photos – I touched on this one above but it's worth mentioning again. Pictures are crucial when dating online even if all you upload at first are pictures of yourself smiling because they need to match the message you're trying to send across. It should be obvious someone would want to date someone who looks happy, dating success and has a lifestyle that would suit them dating-wise. Putting up profile pictures of yourself scowling or looking serious will only put women dating you off as they don't know if there is a reason for your change in dating mood or whether you're going to be the same on every date once they meet you dating-wise! k) Being Unapproachable – I have noticed that most guys tend to write something about being adventurous on their dating profiles which means that the woman reading it automatically thinks 'what does he want from me?'. Men need to realise that women searching for casual hook ups online are also looking to feel dating success so men should try dating more approachable words like "Looking to have fun dating girls" instead of "I dating adventures". l) Not Using Dating Tips – Ask any dating coach and they will tell you that dating is one of the most common reasons men sign up for dating websites. The dating advice is to make sure you take advantage of dating techniques like MMS dating, Email dating or speed dating which all help make things faster with women who are also short on time (like most professionals these days). If you want instant satisfaction then try out some online dating tips today! m) Putting Up False Photos – This is one of the worst mistakes guys can do when they're trying to find casual hook ups online. I think that this happens when guys get too caught up in trying to convince themselves that what they're dating lies work dating-wise. The dating lies they tell dating websites are usually lies that they've told to women before in the dating world and have been called out on dating-wise which is dating reason why guys who try this don't get very far. I know from dating experience that telling a woman you're a millionaire means nothing these days as many other men have tried the exact same dating lie but used it as an advantage where possible! So next time you're tempted to upload a photo of yourself looking like Thor just remember that doing so will only turn women off and force them to look for love elsewhere! n) Not Understanding Attraction – When first approaching a woman online, guys tend to be overly keen or concerned about how their message is coming dating-wise. The dating advice is to keep your dating profile focused on the woman you're interested in instead of what dating-related activities you like doing because that's dating stuff women will find out about when they get in touch! o) Not Confident Enough – Confidence is key when it comes to attracting women online and most dating websites' algorithms are based on this dating truth so guys need to embrace it more when dating. If you ask me, I think that confidence can be read in many different ways so guys should try uploading photos where they look proud of themselves instead of ones where they look self conscious or scared. Confident people come across as sure daters which means that even if their photos aren't great, women dating daters will assume dating success! p) Not Making A Good Dating Profile – This dating mistake is a dating no-brainer but most men still make dating profile that's outdated or filled with dating lies. Guys need to keep their dating profiles as up to date as possible and use their dating advice from dating websites before uploading pictures of themselves dating-wise. It helps if you also include some personal interests too as this allows women to see whether they match your lifestyle or not! q) Going For Low Quality Women – When I was a professional back in the UK, a lot of guys would ask me about going for hook ups which meant that I had to let them know that finding casual hook ups online isn't something everyone can dating-wise. In dating sites, women who are only after dating guys for sex won't bother dating men who have a nice dating profile and an interesting dating background which is why they're considered low dating quality daters by a lot of women! So to avoid dating the wrong women, keep your dating profile as decent as possible and focus less on going for casual hook ups because that's not something everyone can do successfully! r) Only Contacting Women Who Interested Datings – This is one of those online dating mistakes that makes you look desperate instead of the dating success you want to be. If I'm honest, most professional dating coaches would discourage their clients from contacting any woman that shows interest in them because it's easy to look desperate